Silverleaf VMSpc

[Tom]

I had a couple of new Silverleaf units still in their original boxes in my garage. I finally got around to installing one of them on the coach last week. I had to get Silverleaf Electronics to send me a 6-pin connector for the Cummins engine to replace the 9-pin Caterpillar connector the unit came with.

I have a diagnostic connector in an outside bin, beneath the driver seat. So I was getting ready to run the harness out of the bin and through the firewall, and then I noticed a diag connector under the dash. Installation was a breeze and, after installing the VMSpc software on my notebook, I got to use the system for the first time this evening.

I have the 350hp Cummins and 6-speed Allison transmission. What do Silverleafers normally read for transmission temp and engine coolant temp?

 

[Ned]

My Cat coolant temp usually runs around 180F unless we're climbing serious hills.  The tranmission temp is about the same but pushes 200F on climbs.

Did you get the latest version of the software, 2.2beta?  It adds some new gauges like HP and can display all the PIDS from any engine.

 

[Tom]

OK thanks Ned. We were climbing over the Sierras, and transmission temp was over 190 while engine coolant was mid 180's.

Didn't get the new beta. I've had this copy around for over a year. But it can display all the PIDs also, you just have to know what they are. Does the new rev include them all, so you don't need to know the PID #s?

 

[Ned]

The new version asks the engine for all the PIDs.  See Martin's message on the VMSpc forum about the beta and what it adds.  There is a small detail, after installing you have to run the VMSedit program once to update the database.  If you like, I have the program and can give it to you at Moab and save you a download.

 

[blueblood]

OK thanks Ned. We were climbing over the Sierras, and transmission temp was over 190 while engine coolant was mid 180's.

Cummins generally uses a modulating thermostat that is labled 185 degrees. Of course, under high ambient temperatures and/or loads the engine can run well into 200+. A closed system with 50/50 coolant can tun up to 255 but hopefully the engine will not get up there.

 

 

[Tom]

Thanks Blueblood. Interesting description a "modulating thermostat". Does that suggest that the operating temp of the thermostat varies by the kind of numbers suggested in your message?

 

[Tom]

Thanks Ned. I'll check it out.

 

[blueblood]

Thanks Blueblood. Interesting description a "modulating thermostat". Does that suggest that the operating temp of the thermostat varies by the kind of numbers suggested in your message?

With the environmental requirements, one can not just open a thermostat when a set temperature is reached (as we did years ago) and flood cold water into engine. You must modulate the flow to allow the entire capacity of the system to warm up to the set temperature slowly - then full open. I beleive the thermostat runs between 185-195 if my memory serves me right and then its full open and the conditions determine the top side.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for that explanation of today's thermostat operation. I learn something new every day.

 

[Tom]

Ned

VMSpc 2.2 beta is downloaded and installed, and I ran VMS edit. All done as we're cruising along I-80 between Reno and Salt Lake, courtesy of my T-mobile air card with unlimited internet service.

Nice PID sniffer feature, although I don't see much change in the overall appearance. Maybe I was expecting too much.

BTW do the torque and (derived) HP gauges work for you? They both display zero here. Might be that they aren't parameteres outputted by my Cummins engine.

BTW do you know if there's a way to change the integration time for some of the gauges? I suspect not, since they're merely displaying the data coming out of the diagnostic connector.

 

[Bob Zambenini]

Nice PID sniffer feature, although I don't see much change in the overall appearance. Maybe I was expecting too much.

Tom, I updated my VMSpc software yesterday also.

I am not due out on road for a while so can you give me a basic explanation of this PID Sniffer like what is it and what does it do for  you?

Bob

 

[Tom]

Bob

The sniffer appears to merely see what PID codes are available from your engine. Plug it into a different engine and you can tell it to sniff for its codes. I assume that, once it's sniffed, it puts all those codes into the list of available gauges when, for example, you create a "simple gauge". Previously, without the sniffer, the list wasn't necessarily complete, and one had to input some codes manually. That meant knowing the individual codes and whether or not they were outputted by a given engine. The list was/is contained in a standards book that costs something like $80.

 

[John From Detroit]

I had a couple of new Silverleaf units still in their original boxes in my garage.

Uh, what you gonna do with that other system?

More to the point,,, I visited the dealer today (Had an excuse to visit the area on church business and, well, the dealer was literally on the way home, not to mention I want to get them to donate to the church auction) and the salesman says about 2-3 weeks so I should be a "Happy Camper" by the end of next month (in every sense of that phrase)

I'd love to have a full blown diagnostic monitor on that Ford V-10

 

[Tom]

Uh, what you gonna do with that other system?

I brought it along in the coach for the trip to Moab. If you come to the rally, I'll give you a good deal.

FWIW I bought the two systems when we made a trip down the CA coast by boat. As we turned the corner into Santa Monica Bay (to visit Carl Lundquist and his wonderful wife), I told the other half "20 minutes and we'll be tied up at the yacht club honey". No sooner had I said that than I noticed both fuel gauges, for the first time, read the same, and both read almost empty. It didn't help when the other half said "I noticed the gauges didn't read full at the last fuel stop". Ever get that "sinking feeling"? I throttled back to 9 knots and idled across the bay into Marina Del Rey. Two hours later we pulled up at the fuel dock, which they held open for us, and I found I had over 150 gallons in reserve. Grrrr.

The following day I was on the phone to Silverleaf and ordered those two systems for delivery to our daughter who was flying down to San Diego to spend Christmas afloat with us.

Turns out that the pin configuration for the diagnostic connector on CAT marine engines is different from that for CAT motorhome engines. This was news to Silverleaf when I called them and gave them the correct pinout. Sequel to the story - CAT marine engines don't output cumulative fuel burn to the diagnostic connector, so the systems were useless for my needs on the boat.

Just before we left on this trip I called Silverleaf and had them send me a 6-pin Cummins connector for the coach.

FWIW the Cummins 9-pin diagnostic connector for boats is wired the same way that CAT 9-pin motorhome connectors are wired. So I was able to plug one of those systems into a friend's boat with Cummins engines, and it worked just fine.

 

[blueblood]

Ned



BTW do the torque and (derived) HP gauges work for you? They both display zero here. Might be that they aren't parameteres outputted by my Cummins engine.

BTW do you know if there's a way to change the integration time for some of the gauges? I suspect not, since they're merely displaying the data coming out of the diagnostic connector.

Is the connector the same as the one I've attached here ???

 

[Ned]

BTW do the torque and (derived) HP gauges work for you? They both display zero here. Might be that they aren't parameteres outputted by my Cummins engine.

BTW do you know if there's a way to change the integration time for some of the gauges? I suspect not, since they're merely displaying the data coming out of the diagnostic connector.

I haven't really done much with the new gauges but will try them tomorrow when we hit the road.  As for the intergration time, that's a question for Martin.

 

[Tom]

Is the connector the same as the one I've attached here ???

One and the same, at least for the Cummins Motorhome engine.

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

I'd love to have a full blown diagnostic monitor on that Ford V-10

John,

The Silverleaf VMSpc is for diesel engines only. I'm not sure, but I don't think they market one for a gas engine.

 

[Tom]

Good catch Don. I wasn't thinking of the V10 on John's new coach.

 

[Jim Godward]

John,

>>I wasn't thinking of the V10 on John's new coach.<<

There is a similar device for gas vehicles but I don't know who makes it anymore.  Anything that will read the OBD II should do the job though.  try a Google search and see what happens.  I would try OBD II for a start. 

Good Luck,

Jim